Springfield daily republic. [volume] (Springfield, O. [Ohio]) 1887-1888, 1887-07-16
LIES BEAR STORY.

LIES BEAR STORY.
Ii was drawing toward evening on one
Of the very rainiest of the many recent
very rainy days We had had up among the
mountains ON the headwaters of kittle
creek. Although it was the month of
warmth and Roses. the weather required a
blazing fire in Maj. Haight's cabin fire
place. A yellowish fog, such as | had
never seen lowering at such an elevation
J before, where such fogs rs occasionally
visit these hills are white and fieecy and
ephemeral as dew, had formed around the
south border of the ground that stretches
Z away from the edge of the ma jOr's pine
bordered clearing, and was climbing,
/ close ranked and slowly. up the bold
escarpment Of Big Oak Knob, like an
/ army stOrming height Through the
diagonal lines of falling rain the edge Of
the pine forest could be seen but dimly
/ from the cabin window. and the spiteful
storm seemed 10 begrudge even that dis
NAL outlook, So savagely did il dash and
beat against the small and grimy pane
! The utter cheerlesSness of the prospect
without had penetrated the cabin, and
neither the efforts of the blaze on the
hearth nor the influence of an opaque
bottle that stood on the table between q
teacup and green glass tumbler had
been able To dispel it. So the major and
| had sat in gloomy silence for nearly an
hour, when suddenly he broke the silence
and said:
do We b'lieve th't man seventy five
year old, an with only one leg an one
arm. would tell lie;''
The inquiry was startling one under
the circumstances. 1t took me SO by sur
prise that | said nothing and stared
blankly at the MA 1or
do you b'lieve it or not'' he repeated,
taking up the kettle and the teacup and
eXacting its duty from each
We'll, major" | said, that's hard
question TO answer, not knowins''-
Il see," interrupted the old woodsman
"Ye don't know the man, never see him,
an never heerd him talk Wall, ez this
moistur' can't keep a-wringin' itself out
many days longer, 'cordin' TO the way that
fog's bankin' Of itself down yonder long
the pond, an the way that winds be
ginnin' TO slosh around 'mongst them
pines, an ez we won't hev no time TO do
it arter this weather clears, fer wen it
does clear thuz gointer TO be some all
sloppin' fine picker'l fishin' in that pond,
well jist slide over through the woods to
Lie Goodyear's an spend the evenin'.
Lie is the man I'm puzzled on. He's
told me sumpin' at least ev'ry year for
thirty year, an can't make up my mind
whether he's lynn bout il or not Wen
he fus' told me il thort sure he We're a
stretchin' of il pooty durn taut, cause
then he We're only 45, an had both legs
an arms. Wen he got ketched in bar
trap by his right arm, twenty year
ago, an had to stay ketched
fer three days fore any one
kim along TO take him out an then had
to hev his arm cut off, l says TO myself, if
even a man had the habit of Iyin', this
orter cure him, sure, by guns. So l went
over to see Lije. He were nussin' his
arm, or ruther the place whar the arm
had ben, an were cut up giner'ly, wuss'n
a b'ilt ham at stun frolic. But, by guml
he kim straight u the dough trough
with that story, and never tiinched a
muscle nor missed y word. Still l
couldn't get it jst squar' in my mind
wat 10 think about II. i got to tossin'
up pennies 10 see w'at orter set down as
the proper heft To give Lie an the yarn
I'd say, Here goes! IL it comes down
head, Lie is u liar. Tails, he hain't'
Wall, sometimes it'd come down head an
sometimes it'd come down tails, an SO !
see th't il wouldn't be fair To jedge Lie
by tossin' a cent, an | were left floun-
derin 'rOun' i'll the swamphole o. onsar-
tinty, ez OIL Deacon Slocum used to say
in his prayer. 50 | give up thinkin' bout
it at all, an use to go an hear Lies
story w'eneyer felt like it. Say, hev ye
noticed anything absent minded or kinder
gone away bout me lately,'
Il haven't, major" | said.
wall, tn hes beenr' exclaimed my
host. Las December Iije Goodyear got
ketched ag'in. 'Twa'n't his arm this
time, an 'twa'n't in bar trap He sot
down on Jerry's runaway to wait fur q
deer, an fell asleep. The deer kim along,
an ez it went slashin' through the brush
it woke Lie up. His gun were layin' on
the groun' longside O. him, an he made
a grab fer il an ketched it by the bar'l
He give it a yank, the hammer struck
aiEin stun, or sumpin', an the gun went
oil. The ball jist plowed through Lies
knee an they carried him hum an cut his
leg OFT. Then got TO thinkin' bout that
yarn ag'in. Lie is 20 year old | SAYS,
on W dIi iht tlilit " ell tIt
hunter that never misses his mark will
draw bead on him an fotch him down. II
Lie tells me that story now, with one leg
of an one arm of, an MIN 10 year old,
how kin | help b'lievin' hims An if he
don't tell me it ag'in, then he's been the
most onmerciful liar fer thirty year that
ever tramped these woods sence the days
of-of-ohl you know them fellers mean
Them i to h.a
Slocum preach about. They got struck
with shower o sulphur an brimstun',
or turned inter salt or sumpin' on count
o their disposition to lie. Them's the
fellers | mean.
Wall, arter thort Lije must be git
tin long pooty smart went over to see
him. He said he were poorly, an he
looked 1t. | sot thar for an hour an
more, an Lie didn't seem to see the fin
ger board ez p'inted him in the direction